Eighteen people have been charged in what prosecutors say was a khat-trafficking ring that distributed thousands of pounds of the drug in the Washington region and other areas. Authorities say the ring trafficked more than 4.4 million grams — or about 9,700 pounds — of khat. Ten people were arrested Wednesday in Northern Virginia, two in Maryland, four in New York and two in Ohio.
A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria was unsealed after they were taken into custody.
They paid couriers to transport khat into the United States from England, Canada and Holland, or sent packages of khat through the mail, the complaint says.
Khat is an illegal narcotic that’s typically chewed like tobacco, but it can also be smoked or sprinkled on food, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. It contains the drug cathinone and is classified as a Schedule I narcotic, like drugs that include PCP and Ecstasy. It produces feelings of euphoria but regular use can lead to paranoia, irritability and depression.
All of those arrested have been charged with conspiracy to distribute cathinone. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors named Yonis Ishak, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia who lives in Arlington, as the ring’s leader.
He has directed at least 24 couriers to fly to England to obtain khat and smuggle it to the United States since November 2004, according to the complaint.
U.S. officials have intercepted more than 800 khat packages connected to the conspiracy.
Khat sells for about $600 a kilogram, the complaint says. That means the trafficked drugs were worth more than $2.6 million.
The traffickers aimed to smuggle the khat to the United States before it degraded into a less-potent substance, the complaint says.
Wiretap conversations reveal the conspirators discussing the freshest khat, called “Giza” for $120 to $200 per bundle, three to seven times the typical price for khat.
The investigation into the ring began in 2009, when officials noticed connections between khat seizures.
Ishak, who came to the United States in 1990 using a fraudulent passport but was granted asylum based on allegations of persecution in Somalia, was charged in 2005 with assaulting a federal officer while waiting for a khat courier at the Newark International Airport. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents approached him, he fled the scene in his vehicle, striking an officer. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation, court records show.
